Clinical Trials Logo

Clinical Trial Summary

This study is being conducted to investigate how a mother's nutritional status and her gut microbiome during pregnancy contribute to the birth outcomes and health of her baby. The gut microbiome is the totality of microorganisms (e.g. bacteria, viruses, fungi) living in the gastrointestinal tract. This study will focus on pregnant women, 24 years and younger living in the Toronto and greater Toronto area. The focus is on younger women due to their vulnerability to undernutrition. Pregnant participants, and upon delivery, their newborns will be followed throughout pregnancy and for a year afterwards. Throughout this period, the investigators will collect stool samples, rectal swabs, blood samples, health assessments, nutritional and dietary assessments and birth/ labour details. The goal is to define the relationship between a mother's nutritional status and her microbiome dynamics during pregnancy and how they contribute to the birth outcomes and growth of her newborn. With the hypothesis that alterations of the microbiota in the maternal gut (dysbiosis) exacerbated by nutritional status or pathogen exposure during pregnancy, impacts weight gain because of impaired nutrient absorption, leading to corresponding negative birth outcomes.


Clinical Trial Description

This project represents the first systematic investigation of the impact of the microbiome on nutritional status during pregnancy in young women and directly aligns with global health initiatives focused on this vulnerable cohort. The goal of the study is to define the relationships between host nutritional status and microbiome dynamics during pregnancy and how they contribute to birth outcomes. The gut microbiome has a profound influence on host nutritional status. Dysbiosis (loss of diversity/beneficial microbes and gain of pathobionts) has emerged as a major factor in the development of undernutrition. Despite the importance of nutrition during pregnancy, few studies have examined the role of the microbiome on maternal health and birth outcomes. Further, little is known concerning the influence of enteric eukaryotic microbes, such as parasites, on the bacterial microbiome and host nutrition. At the core of this study are two complementary cohorts of young women that provide an exceptional opportunity to obtain longitudinal samples to monitor the dynamic relationships between microbiome community structure and function with gut health and host nutritional status. This registration is for the the Toronto cohort of the study, which will focus on refugee and young adult obstetric clinics in Toronto, a population of specific relevance to undernutrition. This cohort is expected to yield insights into the influence of eukaryotic microbes that are often viewed as asymptomatic. The target demographic of the study is young mothers, 24 years of age and younger, in the Toronto and Greater Toronto Area. The investigators have identified this younger demographic due to the lack of knowledge on the microbiome of young women, and their vulnerability to undernutrition. A second complementary cohort will be based in the Matiari district of Pakistan. This project will yield unprecedented insights into the relationships between prokaryotic and eukaryotic microbes in the gut and their associations with maternal health and birth outcomes. The central hypothesis of the study is that alterations of the microbiota in the maternal gut (dysbiosis) exacerbated by nutritional status or pathogen exposure during pregnancy, impacts weight gain because of impaired nutrient absorption, leading to corresponding negative birth outcomes. The study will be a prospective, longitudinal, observational study to investigate the impact and relationship between prokaryotic and eukaryotic microbes in the gut and their association with maternal health and birth outcomes among young women, 24 years of age and younger in the Toronto and Greater Toronto Area. The study will aim to recruit 400 women into two groups based on BMI at time of recruitment (Normal BMI will be defined as between 20 and 24.9 kg/m2 and Low BMI will be defined as less than 20 kg/m2). With a goal of having 200 participants within the normal BMI group and 200 participants within the low BMI group. Although this is the recruitment aim, in the event that the investigators are unable to recruit 200 women with a low BMI, more women will be recruited that fall within the normal BMI range. The study will follow women and their infants over the course of their pregnancy and for a year post-partum, collecting stool, rectal and blood samples, nutritional information, heath assessments, anthropometric measurements and empowerment metrics at different time points. ;


Study Design


Related Conditions & MeSH terms


NCT number NCT04992104
Study type Observational
Source The Hospital for Sick Children
Contact Jessie Hulst, MD
Phone 416-813-7735
Email jessie.hulst@sickkids.ca
Status Recruiting
Phase
Start date February 22, 2023
Completion date December 2024

See also
  Status Clinical Trial Phase
Completed NCT05017974 - Research on Improving Sleep During Pregnancy N/A
Completed NCT03284515 - Vaccination In Pregnancy Gene Signature: VIP Signature Study
Recruiting NCT05969795 - Comparison of Live Birth Rate in Natural Cycle Single Euploid FET Versus Without Luteal Phase Support Phase 1
Recruiting NCT06051201 - Innovation for Small-scale Experiments: ReceptIVFity Test N/A
Recruiting NCT04828382 - Prospective Study of Pregnancy in Women With Cystic Fibrosis
Enrolling by invitation NCT04527926 - STEPuP: Prenatal Provider Education and Training to Improve Medication-assisted Treatment Use During Pregnancy N/A
Recruiting NCT04278651 - Early Antenatal Support for Iron Deficiency Anemia Phase 4
Recruiting NCT04405700 - Measuring Adverse Pregnancy and Newborn Congenital Outcomes
Recruiting NCT06258902 - Odevixibat Pregnancy and Lactation Surveillance Program: A Study to Evaluate the Safety of Odevixibat During Pregnancy and/or Lactation
Completed NCT05487196 - Effectiveness of Clonidine, Dexmedetomidine, and Fentanyl Adjuncts for Labor Epidural Analgesia Phase 2
Completed NCT03750968 - Lutein & Zeaxanthin in Pregnancy - Carotenoid Supplementation During Pregnancy: Ocular and Systemic Effects Phase 2
Enrolling by invitation NCT06127277 - Next4You: A Fully Mobile Relationships Based Program for Youth in Foster Care N/A
Completed NCT05897697 - Assessing Women's Preferences for Postpartum Thromboprophylaxis: the Prefer-Postpartum Study
Recruiting NCT05899101 - The Impact of Opioid and Cannabis Exposure on Fetal Growth
Completed NCT05502510 - Assessing the Effectiveness and Efficacy of the MyHealthyPregnancy Application
Completed NCT04296396 - Opioid Prescription After Cesarean Trial Phase 3
Not yet recruiting NCT06069856 - Multiple Micronutrient Supplementation (MMS) IFA- Iron Dose Acceptability Crossover Trial Phase 3
Not yet recruiting NCT06069869 - Multiple Micronutrient Supplementation (MMS) Iron Dose Acceptability Crossover Trial Phase 3
Not yet recruiting NCT06079918 - Multiple Micronutrient Supplementation for Maternal Anemia Prevention in Tanzania Phase 3
Not yet recruiting NCT04960800 - Effect of a Specific Exercise Program During Pregnancy on Diastasis Recti Abdominis N/A